Dual temperature refrigerator



I L. A. STAEBLER DUAL TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATOR Dec 23, 1952 Filed Dec. 4, 1950 at freezing temperatures.

Patented Dec. 23, 1952 2,622,412 DUAL TEMEERATURE REFRIGERATOR Lloyd A. Staebler, Oreland, Pa., assignor to Philco Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 4, 1950, Serial No. 199,10

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to refrigerators and, particularly, to household refrigerators of the general type in which a partition is arranged within the refrigerator cabinet to divide the total storage space into two adjacent compartments, one serving for the storage of food at non-freezing temperatures and the other serving for the storage of food at freezing temperatures. More specifically, the invention has to do with a refrigerator of the above mentioned variety in which each compartment is supplied with its own evaporator, and in which provision is made to adjust the position of the partition and evaporators within the cabinet so as to vary the ratio of freezing space to total storage space.

Prior to this invention, for instance, as is disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application of Malcolm G. Shoemaker and Elmer W. Zearfoss, Jr., Serial No. 129,934, filed November 29, 1949, now Patent No. 2,597,267 granted May 20, 1952, and assigned to Philco Corporation, it was proposed to construct the freezing evaporator of a household refrigerator in such a manner as to provide for selective adjustment of said evaporator within the cabinet. Such a construction has the advantage that the volumetric capacity of the freezing space can be varied to accommodate the bulk and quantity of food to be stored However, the use of an adjustable freezing evaporator in conjunction with a second evaporator operating above freezing temperatures to cool the non-freezing storage space, gives rise to certain constructional and operational problems and difficulties, and it is the primary object of the invention to provide a simplified arrangement which overcomes these problems and difficulties.

Other and more specific objects of the invention have to do with the provision of a novel arrangement and association of partitioning and refrigerant evaporating elements which cooperate to define separated adjacent freezing and non-freezing compartments within the refrigerator cabinet, and which are adjustably arranged in said cabinet to vary the ratio of freezing space to total storage space.

The novel arrangement, in accordance with the broadest aspect of the present invention, includes a partition supporting a pair of refrigerant evaporators. The partition spans the space delineated by the inner liner of refrigerator cabinet and divides said space into two adjacent compartments, and the evaporators are supported by the partition in such a manner that one evaporator is disposed within one of said compartments and the other evaporator is disposed within the other of said compartments. The partition and the evaporators which it supports are adjustable, as a unit, so that the storage capacities of said compartments can be readily changed without interference by either evaporator. According to a narrower aspect of the invention, the partition is ssociated with sealing means effective to isolate the compartments from each other, and one evaporator is mounted on one side to the partition and cools at temperatures above freezing while the other evaporator is mounted on the other side of the partition and cools at temperatures below freezing. In practice, it is advantageous to locate the partition horizontally within the upper portion of the cabinet and to place the warmer evaporator beneath the partition and the colder evaporator above the partition. In a construction of that kind, the warmer evaporator is rigidly attached to the underside of the partition so as to depend either vertically or horizontally therefrom, and the colder evaporator conveniently takes the form of upper and lower half sections; the upper half section being mounted in fixed position within the uppermost portion of the cabinet, and the lower half section being rigidly mounted upon the upperside of the partition to move, together with said partition and depending cooler evaporator, toward and away from the mentioned fixed upper half section.

The novel features of the invention together with the foregoing and other objects and advantages, will be best understood from the following description of the practicable embodiments shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional-elevational perspective view of a portion of a household refrigerator incorporating one form of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 and shows another form of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the refrigerator as shown is of the usual upright type and comprises a cabinet having an outer shell l0 and an inner liner II, with suitable insulating material I2 inserted between said shell and liner. The inner liner defines a space of predetermined height, width and depth within the cabinet, and this space is accessible through the open front of the cabinet which is normally closed by means of a door (not shown) of conventional construction.

In accordance with the invention, a partition I3 is arranged within the space defined by the inner liner and, in practice, this partition extends horizontally across said space to provide a lower compartment l4 and an upper compartment IS. The partition is conveniently supplied with a gasket strip [6 which runs along the rear edge and opposite ends of said partition and resiliently bears against rear and side wall portions of the inner liner to provide an effective seal isolating the lower and upper compartments from each other. Also in accordance with the invention, a refrigerant evaporator structure H is affixed to the under surface of horizontal partition 13 and another evaporator structure It is mounted upon the upper surface of said partition.

The evaporator structure ll includes a plate is of suitable heat conducting material provided with a serpentine passageway 28 for circulation of refrigerant. As represented in Figures 1 and 2, the plate [9 is conveniently suspended from the underside of the partition by means of suitable brackets 2! and, as illustrated in Figure 1, said plate may be constructed and mounted to extend horizontal plane underlying substantially the full area of the partition. In either case, it will be seen that large surfaces of the refrigerated plate is are exposed within the lower compartment to effect good heat exchange with the air circulating in said compartment.

The evaporator structure it includes a plate 22 of high heat conducting material provided with a serpentine passageway 23 for circulation of re frigerant. This plate 22 is constructed and mounted to extend in a generally horizontal plane overlying the partition and is conveniently mounted on the upperside of said partition, by means of suitable rigid support members 24 at the front and rear portion of said plate. In this manner, the plate is supported slightly off the partition so that large surfaces of said plate are exposed within the upper compartment to effect good heat exchange with air circulating therein. The plate 22 advantageously forms the lower half section of a generally rectangular evaporator, the upper half section of which is provided by another plate 25 also provided with a refrigerant circulating passageway 26:}. This other plate 25 is mounted, as by means of bolts 2? or similar fastening elements, in fixed position within the uppermost portion of the space outlined by the inner liner, and overhangs the companion refrigerated plate 22.

According to the invention, the partition l3 and evaporator plates 59 and 22 carried by said partition, form a unitary structure which is vertically movable, within certain limits, in the refrigerator cabinet. As illustrated in the drawing, the mentioned unitary structure is adjusted and supported in an intermediate position. From this position, said structure may be adjusted and supported at a higher or lower level. For that purpose, spaced hangers 28 are affixed to the rear edge portion of the partition and project therefrom for selective engagement with recesses 29 arranged in vertical rows and conveniently formed in the back wall of the inner liner in position to register with said hangers. A generally tubular trim member 39 is suitably attached to the front edge portion of the partition and receives retractable rods 38, the outer ends 32 of which are selectively engageable with depressions 33 arranged in vertical rows and conveniently formed in the side walls of the inner liner. The number of depressions 33 is equal to the number Lil 4 of recesses 29, and said depressions and recesses are so disposed with respect to each other that, when the partition and two-evaporator unit is properly adjusted in any one operative position, said unit is suspended within the refrigerator cabinet in the manner shown in the drawing.

In manipulating the partition and two-evaporator unit to change it from one to another operative position, said unit may first be moved so as to withdraw the hangers 28 from the associated recesses 29. The rear portion of the unit may then be angularly raised (or lowered) so as to bring the hangers in registration with other recesses, the ends 32 of rods iii in engagement with the associated depressions 33 servin as pivots during this raising (or lowering) movement of the unit. Thereafter, the rods 3i are manually retracted and the front portion of the unit is raised (or lowered) so as to bring the ends 32 of said rods in engagement with a new set of depressions, thereby leveling the partition and two-evaporator unit in its new position.

In practice, the temperature within the lower compartment I4 is kept above freezing, whereas the temperature within the upper compartment 15 is maintained below freezing and, for that purpose, lower evaporator plate 59 operates at temperatures higher than the temperatures at which upper evaporator plates 22 and 25 operate. This difference in temperatures is obtained by means of any suitable known two-temperature refrigrating system, such as the one shown, for example, in Figure 1. As shown in this figure, the system includes a condensing unit consisting of a motor-compressor S4 and a condenser 35. Gaseous refrigerant is compressed in the motorcompressor and is discharged through duct 36 into the condenser where the compresse gaseous refrigerant gives up heat and is reconverted to liquined state. Liquifieu refrigerant flows from the condenser through a capillary tube 3? into th lower evaporator plate it where, the refrigerant evaporates and absorbs heat from the lower compartment. After circulating through evaporator plate 19, the refrigerant fiows through a restrictor 38 to the evaporator plate 22 where the refrigerant further expands and absorbs heat from the upper compartment. In operation, the restrictor 38 acts to maintain the pressure in evaporator plate i9 higher than the pressur in evaporator plate 22. This diiference in pressure is such that evaporator plate it operates at a higher temperature range while evaporator plate 22 operates at a lower temperature range. From evaporator plate 22, the refrigerant flows through an unrestricted conduit 39 to the fixed evaporator plate 25 where the refrigerant continues to expand and absorbs mor heat from the upper compartment. Because the flow of refrigerant from evaporator plate 22 to evaporator plate 25 is unrestricted, the same pressure exists in both of said evaporator plates and, accordingly, both of these plates operate at the same low temperature. Gaseous refrigerant is withdrawn from evaporator plate 25 and is discharged into the motor compressor 33 through a suction line li It is particularly to be noted that a substantial portion of the tube 3'3 is located within the lower compartment and forms large free loops before connecting with lower evaporator plate is, and that the major portion of conduit as which establishes communication between upper evaporator plates 22 and 25 in the upper compartment, is free and forms an elongated loop between said upper plates. It will be understood that the presence of these loops provides for the unobstructed circulation of refrigerant within the three evaporator plates without interfering with the movement of plates I9 and 22, as they are raised or lowered, as a unit with their supporting partition [3, to the desired position.

By employing the invention as embodied in either form herein shown and described, it will be appreciated that a household refrigerator of the type provided with adjacent freezing and non-freezing compartments, each having its own evaporator, can be made to conform most readily to the need of the user who may occasionally want to store, within the freezing compartment, food in bulk or quantity larger than could be accommodated in conventional refrigerators of the above mentioned type. The invention, therefore, enhances the usefulness of such household refrigerators by making it possible to adapt the storage capacity of the freezing compartment to fit the needs of the user, and still preserve the full advantage which is derived from the use of a two-temperature system to maintain isolated compartments at the desired temperatures. Especially, the provision or a partition associated with a high-temperature evaporator and with a low-temperature evaporator, in the manner hereinbefore described, has the decided advantage that the partition and evaporators constitute a unitary structure which is capable of being readily adjusted to vary the ratio of freezing space to total storage space, and that such adjustment can be made without interference by either evaporator and without interfering with the proper refrigerating effects of both evaporators.

I claim:

1. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having an inner liner defining a storage space, a partition received within said space and cooperating with said liner to divide the interior of the cabinet into tWo adjoining compartments, said partition having means engaging portions I of said liner to effect a seal isolating said compartments from each other, an evaporator supported within one of said isolated compartments by said partition, another evaporator supported within the other of said isolated compartments by said partition, and means mounting said partition for movement, as a unit with both evaporators, into various positions within said storage space.

2. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, 2. partition received within said cabinet and dividing the interior thereof into two adjoining compartments, a plate-like evaporator supported within one of said compartments by said partition, a generally rectangular sectional evaporator disposed within the other of said compartments and consisting of two confronting separable refrigerated sections, one of said sections of said sectional evaporator being supported within said other of said compartments by said partition,

securing means mounting the other of said sections of said sectional evaporator in fixed position within said other of said compartments, and means mounting said partition for movement, as a unit with said plate-like evaporator and with said one of said sections of said sectional evaporator, into various positions with respect to the fixed position of said other of said sections of said sectional evaporator.

3. A refrigerator as set forth in claim 2, in which the plate-like evaporator carried by the partition, is disposed in a generally vertical plane within the mentioned one of the mentioned compartments.

4. A refrigerator as set forth in claim 2, in which the platelike evaporator carried by the partition, is disposed in a generally vertical plane traversing said partition substantially at its medial portion.

5. A refrigerator as set forth in claim 2, in which the plate-like evaporator carried by the partition, is disposed in a generally horizontal plane within the mentioned one of the mentioned compartments.

6. A refrigerator as set forth in claim 2, in which the plate-like evaporator carried by the partition, is disposed in a plane sloped with respect to said artition.

LLOYD A. STAEBLER.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Philipp June 13, 

